MOBILE, Alabama -- Jim Sanderson knows Faulkner University basketball inside and out. He is entering his 23rd season in charge of the Eagles' men's basketball program and has led the program to 435 victories in that time, including some of the program's best seasons. Starting his 23rd year with the school, Sanderson knows what to look for in a team and what will help make a team better from the previous season.

Jake Mitchell drives in for a layup in a game last season. He will return as the Eagles' starting point guard this season. Faulkner opens its season Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Faulkner University.)

And Sanderson likes what he sees from this year's roster heading into Friday's season-opener.

"I think we've got an inside scoring punch this year that we did not have last year,'' he said. "We are more athletic and probably have a little more depth at the point guard spot. We've still got a couple of question marks, but we are a threat inside that we have not had in the post lately. With that and athleticism I'm hoping that will equal a little more success early on. We'll see.''

Players such as Anthony Johnson, Jamarious Alderson, Jake Mitchell, Maurice Whitely, Nick McHenry, Cyrille Sandjon and others will help form a team that should compete for the Southern States Athletic Conference's Western Division title.

"We've got some guys - we may be a little bit thin at the wing right now - but we've got some talent there,'' Sanderson said. "Hopefully we'll have a little depth this year but you're always an injury or two away from being in a mess.

"It's going to be competitive (in the division). We kind of go back and forth in our division, with Loyola ending up winning it last year. We finished strong last year and ended up second in our division. It's a long season and there's a lot of peaks and valleys. The last two seasons we have finished strong even though we were a little thin. You try to play your best basketball at the end, in January and February. Hopefully that's what we'll do. We' may start slow because we've got a few new guys, but I think at the end we have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team.''

Sanderson said the ingredients for a good team are present.

"I enjoy working with these guys,'' he said. "The hard part is getting the new guys to understand what I'm about and how we do things; there's a learning curve there. But overall I do like this team, I like the character of this team. I think that's very important. We've got some guys who are coachable guys, guys who are really going to turn the corner come January.''